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Volunteers rescue fire stations

Fulton taking all equipment before official hand-over

Temura Bly of Accessmilton.com contributed to this story.

April 03, 2007

For Milton resident Tim Enloe, making sure the city's firefighters have everything they need when the department hits the ground running May 15 is about as worthwhile a cause as he will ever find.

Before he was born, Enloe's family lost two young boys, his brothers, in a fire. His father also died in a fire recently, and his younger brother was killed in a car accident on Mayfield Road.

In each case, Enloe said it was comforting to know that there were people there willing to try and help save their lives.

"I wanted to make sure I helped give back to the people who have given so much to me," he said. "How could I not try and give back? So I took the few campaign donations I recieved this fall, which was about $300, and use it to purchase three dvd / vcr players for these public servants. "

So as part of his efforts, he joined the Milton Volunteer Pacers in the drive to raise funds and collect donations for the city's new Fire Department.The drive is sorely needed.

When Fulton County hands over Milton's three fire houses May 15 – Station 10 on Thompson Road, Station 14 on Arnold Mill Road and Station 18 on Hickory Flat Road – they will come completely empty. That means no beds, no pots and pans, nothing.

Bill Doughty, Milton's communications director, said it was always understood that the firehouses would come bare."We knew the furnishings and equipment were Fulton County's and that they would take them when the transaction occurs. It's the same thing that happened in Sandy Springs," he said.

Everything, which of course was purchased with taxpayer dollars, will be sent to Fulton County Material Control and kept in the county's stock to furnish other houses throughout the county."Material Control dictates where the stock will go based on need," said Greg Chambers, a spokesman for the county Fire Department.He said everything in the house is assigned a bar code and is kept like stock in a grocery store so the county always knows where it is."For instance, if someone puts a requisition in for a desk [in another part of the county], it will probably be one of those," said Chambers.

Fulton County Commissioner Lynn Riley said the policy adopted in 2006 by the county will allow the city to buy each fire station for only $5,000. Anything inside would be extra, and Riley said there is nothing prohibiting Milton from buying it all part and parcel."It was very strongly debated that the citizens already paid for those [fire]stations, and it would be criminal to make them pay twice," she said.But if the things inside the station were paid for with government money, why couldn't those things stay, too?"You could make that argument," she said. "But at the time it was not contemplated [by the commission]."Tom Lowe, another Fulton County commissioner, said that the total amount of money inside the stations is so small that residents shouldn't worry about it."You're talking about a nominal amount of money, an infinitesimal amount of money," he said. "Just buy the real estate and forget about that stuff."

In other words, Milton won the war, don't quibble over the cost of the battle.So the burden to provide living quarters for their personnel comes back to the nascent city."The city is prepared to provide the basic necessities, but to have a fire department six months after incorporation, there's going to be a lot to do," said Milton Volunteer Pacers Public Safety Committee Chairwoman Jan Fowler.It was her idea for a fund-raising drive for the city, and she is heading up the effort. Fowler said her brother is a 25-year veteran firefighter in Texas, and when she heard the firehouses would be empty, she knew she had to do something

Traditionally, firefighters have to buy their own amenities, so lot of houses have a fund for things like televisions, pots and pans, groceries, things like that," she said. "This will send a strong message to our firefighters that they are appreciated and that they don't need to spend their own money to buy new things."Plus, she said the less money the city has to spend on amenities, the more it can spend on needed equipment.

So far, the volunteers have collected a number of donations for the three firehouses. Fowler said the best way for people to help, though, is by giving cash. That way, the houses won't be stuck with duplicate physical donations and the group can purchase exactly what it needs once the giving storm dies down."Everybody always talks about supporting our firefighters and police officers, but the question becomes how to do that in a tangible way," Fowler said. "This is that way."

You can contact Jan Folwer at jfowler770@comcast.net and Tim Enloe at tmenloe@aol.com.